Disney People

DISNEY seems bent on snuffing out all hotel and entertainment competition in Florida. No doubt some no longer consider Disney people as good neighbors. Miss Piggy could replace Mickey as their main attraction.Loretta Dasher WINTER SPRINGS

A recent Flashback about the origins of ballet in Orlando, entwined with the Ebsen and Royal families, inspired letters from readers about the couple whose Royal School of Dance influenced generations of Central Floridians for almost 40 years, beginning in 1948. Other letters focused on books, including a quest for the autobiographies of two hometown heroes. Royal history "In the 1950s my mother worked for Crown Can Co., which the last I heard was now named Crown Cork and Seal.

WHY SHOULD Orange County residents give millions of dollars to a French company to operate a computerized train system between International Drive and Disney World when the Disney people don't want to lose any income from their parking lots?Orange County commissioners should save residents money and let Disney pay for the system.L. Lee PetersonWINTER PARK

Never-before-released pictures of Walt Disney -- taken from his personal camera -- are now available on the website of D23, the official Disney fan club. The images, found in the D'scovered section of the site, is part of the promotion for the new, free level of membership of the club. Two of the pictures show Disney relaxing at his home and on a 1951 family trip to Denmark. Other accessible elements on the site include interviews with ABC stars, Walt Disney Co. archivists, segments about the company's history (including one called "Weird Disney")

I SEE that the Disney people have labeled a tax bill from Orange County for $32 million as totally unacceptable.Well, Disney may have brought a lot of money into the Orlando area, but it has caused a lot of problems requiring the county and state to spend millions to accommodate its attractions, which have inflated prices on everything in the Orlando area except wages.Isn't it about time our state Legislature rescinded or nullified the special status it gave Disney because it doesn't deserve it?

I AM a frequent visitor to your area, the unique and wonderful Orlando. I am quite upset to hear that Disney may upset Toad to put in Pooh. Bother! I say OK to Pooh, but leave Toad going ''merrily on his way'' as he always has.Seems to me as if the Disney people are going ''nowhere in particular'' with this one. If I may quote Walt: ''Here in Florida, we have something special we never enjoyed at Disneyland: the blessing of size. There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we can possibly imagine.

BECAUSE of the problem the Disney people have with the reselling of the multiday Disney World tickets, the simplest solution is to stop selling them. This is the procedure all other attractions and movie houses use.This then would free our law enforcement agencies of using their valuable time to prevent the resale of tickets. Perhaps the top Disney echelon would not receive all the millions they get in bonuses, but I don't believe that would create a hardship.Louise D. SimunekALTAMONTE SPRINGS

IT CERTAINLY is a sad state when we have state representatives making laws for private enterprises such as the Disney organization.What happens to unused portions of multiday passes is a problem for the Disney people. I feel sorry for their losing so much money. It doesn't seem that way with the amount of salaries and bonuses the top boys get.If the Disney folk are so hungry for the buck, why don't they change the system and keep the legislatures out of the picture?Ross RaphaelMAITLAND

I AM AGHAST at the Disney organization's plan to feature Michael Jackson in a 3-D movie at the Kodak pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in Orlando. The two film features there are charming and great attractions. There's no way Jackson presents any part of what we have come to know and admire as ''the Disney image.''Teen-agers will come to Epcot Center anyhow, and Disney people never should forget that parents and grandparents pay for the majority of young people who visit the center.

I AM disappointed that the Disney organization and five of its people have been charged in connection with the death of some vultures that were trapped for relocation from Discovery Island at Walt Disney World.I always had felt that the Disney people were doing a good job in the care of their live animal exhibits. I can only withdraw my support for this company when it comes to the environment.The folks managing Walt Disney World obviously have dropped the standards that Walt Disney achieved.

Walt Disney Co. took to downtown Orlando for a promotion for the 2013 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. Watch to video to see what a seemingly innocuous topiary of Captain Hook does to folks walking around Lake Eola.

When the Walt Disney World Marathon began at 6 this morning, all those long-distance runners probably looked pretty much alike. All but Bill Schulz -- unless someone else planned on starting the race as Cruella DeVille. Uh, why Cruella, Bill? "Mostly because of that wonderful black-and-white wig," he said. Well, naturally. Bill also plans on carrying Cruella's long cigarette holder (presumably sans cigarette, because, after all, this is a marathon). But Bill won't be finishing in his 101 Dalmations attire.

I AM a frequent visitor to your area, the unique and wonderful Orlando. I am quite upset to hear that Disney may upset Toad to put in Pooh. Bother! I say OK to Pooh, but leave Toad going ''merrily on his way'' as he always has.Seems to me as if the Disney people are going ''nowhere in particular'' with this one. If I may quote Walt: ''Here in Florida, we have something special we never enjoyed at Disneyland: the blessing of size. There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we can possibly imagine.

''I can't believe anyone would build anything in that God-forsaken desert, but I heard the Midland mayor on the 6 o'clock TV news saying that Disney is gonna build a theme park in West Texas.''Welcome to the phone-mail hell of an Orlando tourism columnist.No matter how implausible those HOT NEWS TIPS about Disney, Six Flags or Paramount scouting new theme park sites are - they cannot be ignored.Wednesday's call was from Buddy Gaines, an affable, retired police officer ''born and raised in Midland/Odessa'' now living in Winter Park.

This is the way towns and housing developments used to be started in America. Quoting from the World Book encyclopedia:''Thousands of settlers moved to the border to await the opening. The army held them back until a pistol shot signaled the opening. Then a wild race began to claim the best farms and townsites.''This particular housing development was called Oklahoma. By nightfall, 50,000 people had moved in.Fast-forward a century. No soldiers or pistol shots are expected Saturday when a drawing is held to determine the first few hundred ''settlers'' of Celebration, the new town being hatched by Disney in northwest Osceola County.

AS WE waited to cast our vote, we thought: How about contracting the polling places out to the Disney people, those masters of crowd control, with ice-cream vendors, patriotic tableaus, snaking lines and little signs that say, ''A 60-minute wait from this point''?In lieu of that, congratulations to the elections people for doing a wonderful job, for moving people through with good humor, and for helping make this important year of the vote an experience that renewed our faith in the election process.

ON FEB. 1, I read a story in The Orlando Sentinel that is very disturbing. I refer to the action taken against the Orlando Coalition Against Pornography by the Disney people.I have always associated Walt Disney with all that was decent and wholesome. I firmly believe that were he here today, he not only would be pleased with having his words quoted in this manner, but he would be directly involved in the effort.I have had the pleasure of patronizing the parks on a frequent basis for 10 years, and each member of my family has an annual passport.

It's easy to write off tough neighborhoods such as South Central Los Angeles - ground-zero for the riots that ignited in the wake of the trial of police officers accused of beating Rodney King. But that is a mistake.When corporate America invests the time to go into those neighborhoods, it can find a treasure trove of human potential.That's what happened recently when recruiters from Disneyland offering 200 summer jobs went to South Central. It's commonly thought of as a neighborhood full of gangs and drug dealers.

ON FEB. 1, I read a story in The Orlando Sentinel that is very disturbing. I refer to the action taken against the Orlando Coalition Against Pornography by the Disney people.I have always associated Walt Disney with all that was decent and wholesome. I firmly believe that were he here today, he not only would be pleased with having his words quoted in this manner, but he would be directly involved in the effort.I have had the pleasure of patronizing the parks on a frequent basis for 10 years, and each member of my family has an annual passport.